| I’m having a little trouble understanding this rabid hockey fascination that has gripped Calgary of late. Admittedly there has been a long playoff hockey drought in this city, but the hockey fans that are coming out of the woodwork are not only a little hypocritical, but also a little bit nutty.
The hypocrisy I speak of isn’t that of the fair-weather hockey fan. Hard core rink enthusiasts are quick to point out that the stands are never as full as they are during the playoffs, but that is to be expected. I can forgive the people that only decided when the Flames made the playoffs for the first time in 13 years that they would cheer them on. What I have a hard time with is the people painting their faces, cars and houses with ramshackle flaming Cs and attaching flags to their cars as though they were leading the Flames motorcade to victory.
Let me put it into perspective. You know when the latest Star Wars movie comes out and people line up for five days dressed up as R2-D2 to buy tickets? You folks in the Flames jerseys with the thermoses of soup outside the Saddledome at 5 a.m. to get playoff seats are the sports-world equivalent of those sci-fi geeks.
I know I traded my love of sports for my love of movies a long time ago when my soccer coach punched me in the gut for not being fit enough, but you didn’t see me walking around in a yellow track suit for the opening weekend of Kill Bill. And I certainly didn’t paint a big samurai sword on the side of my car and drive down 17th when it was No. 1 at the box office. And you can bet that when it gets bumped out of top position by Mean Girls I’m not going to grab the Video Vulture and start a freaking riot. If I did you would think me insane. Yet hockey fans will no doubt destroy bar room furniture and load vehicles past capacity to celebrate or mourn the results of Calgary’s playoff series. I guess hockey fans are just tougher than your average cineaste.
Good luck against the Lightning. |
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